UFC 200: Brock Lesnar Says he Called Dana White, Not Vice-Versa

Since it was announced Brock Lesnar will scrap at UFC 200, there’s been a lot of speculation that Dana White initiated the pro-wrestler’s return, in an effort to move the July 9th card to the next level. Well, according to the former heavyweight champ, that’s not how things played out.

On Saturday, it was revealed that Lesnar has elected to come out of MMA retirement, and will be fighting for the first time since 2011, when he was stopped by Alistair Overeem. More recently, Lesnar reported that his opponent at UFC 200 will be Mark Hunt.

The massive fighter recently sat down with his longtime business partner, Paul Heyman, and discussed his decision to return to the UFC. While doing so, Lesnar revealed that he was the one who got the comeback ball rolling (quote via MMA Fighting.com):

“Dana White didn’t call me up for this,” Lesnar said. “I made the phone call. You can’t get into the Octagon half-assedly, nor would I make the call if I wanted to half-assedly get in the Octagon, because I’m smarter than that. I know how dangerous it is. It’s a dangerous sport. I wouldn’t put my health at risk for my family by no means. My head is in the game on this. I’m 100 percent all in. All in. No doubts in mind. No doubt at all.”

It’s not too surprising to hear this really. After all, Lesnar said last spring that he wouldn’t be returning to fighting, and he is under contract with the WWE. So, White may not have even considered him as a real option for UFC 200 to begin with.

Lesnar once again cited his well documented battle with diverticulitis, as to why he believes his MMA career was cut short, and why he wants to give fighting another go.

“I ended up getting beat by foes that in my mindset I should have never lost to,” Lesnar said. “I lost to diverticulitis. I lost to Cain Velasquez. I lost to Alistair Overeem. I’m not here to avenge any loss other than to avenge the loss that I took to diverticulitis. I just want it.”

There you have it. It’s going to be a can’t miss night, no question, and it will be interesting to see what the PPV tally is, once UFC 200 is all done.